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I also agree with the Lily-Sue thing. While we're on the topic, what do you think could be some serious flaws that Lily could have to make her seem more...human? I've tried to write her before, and found it extremely hard. So far she only really has two minor flaws: her inability at Quidditch and her temper, and having a temper is used so often it's a total cliche. Any ideas?

Well, I think we can safely say that Lily can be a bit blind to other people's flaws (ie, Peter Pettigrew) and she put up with Snape for a long time, even though she said in the DH memories she didn't like the people he was hanging around with and the things they were doing.

She also can hold a grudge for a VERY long time. After Snape called her a Mudblood, she completely didn't want anything to do with him. You can glean from that information that she is stubborn. You could also say she might be a little ashamed about her parents, as a famous Hermione qoute is "Mudblood and proud" and we never hear Lily say anything like that. While Hermione is comfortable and doesn't see it as an insult, it is enough to make Lily fall out with someone who she has known since birth.

That would actually be a good angle to use. Making her be a bit insecure about herself would break away from the Lily-Sue thing. She could desperately be trying to proove herself as a witch and be a bit closed off from people who have different blood status, in case they make fun of her. It would take her a long time to truly let someone in and after that, she would definately become fiercly loyal; after all she died for Harry and loved Petunia even when she was calling her names.

You've got to remember the way she is represented in the books is purely from Harry's view. Harry owes her a life debt, so he's hardly going to sit there and talk bad about her. In Harry's eyes, his mother was perfect and he didn't go on the look out for her flaws.

I personally don't think she would be highly strung or bossy. I think she would only truly get angry when someone she loved was threatened, as shown in OOTP Pensieve scene. She wouldn't really have the confidence to be bossy at the beginning of her Hogwarts days, because she was going into the unknown. As she got older she would probably get more comfortable and therefore, feel more at home keeping order around Hogwarts, but I definately don't think she'd be anything like Hermione or Ginny, because they had completely different childhoods.

Hermione was probably pampered as a child, and Ginny was the youngest of seven, while Lily had one sister. I think another interesting angle to use when writing Lily is her relationship with Petunia, and how she is torn between her sister and her magic.

Honestly, to completely steal the line from someone who pointed this out on LJ, Lily going after James is the typical rebounding scenario: Snape liked Lily, Lily sorta liked Snape. James liked Lily *TOO*, but Lily *LOATHED* James (as, it should be noted, did Snape). But when Snape made her mad, Lily compounded the injury by running straight into James' arms — the same James that not only is his mortal enemy, but quite frankly provoked him.

I don't think waiting over a year to start dating someone would really support a rebound scenario or be considered "running straight into" anyone's arms. Lily and Snape had their falling out sometime before O.W.L.s in fifth year, though it seems to have been coming on at least a little while longer, since the whole mudblood/Snivellus thing seems to have been the last straw for Lily. She and James didn't start dating until sometime in seventh. That just doesn't fit the dating on the rebound profile.

Personally, I don't think Lily took the falling-out with Snape that hard. Don't get me wrong, I think she would have been saddened by it, because Lily seems to have been a caring person. She would have been sad for her friend, that he would have chosen a path she felt was wrong. However, Snape had clearly been going down that path for a while, and Lily had expressed her disapproval. The final straw wouldn't have come as a complete shock. I think the dissolution of their friendship occurred slowly over a period of time, dulling the impact for her. Had Snape suddenly used the term mudblood against her, out of the blue, it would have made the loss of friendship much more traumatic for her. Then, I might buy an argument for her seeking to hurt Snape by going out with his archenemy or something, but again, I don't think she'd wait over a year to do it. In my opinion, her dating James had absolutely nothing to do with her prior relationship with Snape.

Lily-Sue: In terms of flaws, personally, I don't think it is necessary to give her a glaringly evident "serious" flaw. All evidence supports the notion that Lily was a wonderful person. People loved her, and she was obviously talented and physically attractive (something of a mary-suish type person, really and that's okay and fairly normal, IMO).

Take the terrible temper "flaw". I don't see her being as popular as she clearly was, if she was this awful hothead constantly flying off the handle over everything. I know I wouldn't admire or want to be near a person like that. Of course she would be flawed, as all people are, but I don't think it is necessary to create specific flaws to show that. I think JKR did a good job balancing Lily in SWM when Lily almost laughs at Snape's graying pants. He's her friend and he's being intentionally humiliated by people she isn't particularly impressed with to start with, and she still almost laughs. It doesn't mean she's horribly flawed, but it show's she's not perfect because that wasn't a very nice thing to do, but it was probably natural/flawed human instinct. Those are the types of things I think make Lily well rounded. It also distinguishes her from say, Hermione, who I don't think would have found anything funny in having Snape's pants revealed under those circumstances. It's subtle, though, and I think that is the way Lily's flaws would be.

ETA:

She also can hold a grudge for a VERY long time. After Snape called her a Mudblood, she completely didn't want anything to do with him. You can glean from that information that she is stubborn. You could also say she might be a little ashamed about her parents, as a famous Hermione qoute is "Mudblood and proud" and we never hear Lily say anything like that. While Hermione is comfortable and doesn't see it as an insult, it is enough to make Lily fall out with someone who she has known since birth.

I have to disagree. I don’t think finally writing Snape off, after having expressed her disapproval for his choices before, makes her uncommonly stubborn. Again, it wasn’t really the Mudblood thing for her; it was just the final straw showcasing where his values had fallen that caused her to reject his apology. I don’t think it was shame for her heritage that made it too much for her to hear, so much as the fact that Snape was supposed to be her friend but he would use what was commonly known to be a very prejudiced epithet against her and others like her. Being offended by this type of bigotry does not indicate self-shame, but a rejection of the awful feelings behind it. Also, she hadn’t known Snape since birth, but since they were around 10, so they had been friends for a while, but not lifelong. And again, the differences between the two had been building for a while during those years of friendship.

Would Lily have started saying Voldemort's name after Hogwarts and while in the Order? I think that Dumbledore encouraged people to call Voldemort by his name like he did during the Second War, and I think that James and friends might have joined Dumbledore in that, but would Lily?

You could also say she might be a little ashamed about her parents, as a famous Hermione qoute is "Mudblood and proud" and we never hear Lily say anything like that.

Umm... bear in mind that we see Lily for a total of oh.. about half a chapter. We see Hermione for seven books. Just because in half a chapter Lily didn't say that she was proud to be Mudblood or anything doesn't mean that she was ashamed of heritage.

Originally Posted by GinveraPotter213

Would Lily have started saying Voldemort's name after Hogwarts and while in the Order?

Yes, I think that she would have. She's a strong and independent person, and if Dumbledore was pushing saying 'Voldemort' she probably would have said it.

I've always seen Lily as a type of bird. Maybe a dove. To me, she seems to be like a peaceful person who doesn't judge people by what they look like or what their family is like (Snape). I think she would be something like that.

If James Potter were taken completely out of the equation, what animal would you say is most symbolic of Lily (just Lily)?

Does anyone have any ideas?

Like Azhure, I've always pictured Lily is a dove. Doves, for me, represent purity and Lily had a good heart. She loved so much that she sacrificed herself for her son. She's also always been kind to those who go against the grain (Snape and Peter), at least until they betray her.

They also, for me, represent elegance and beauty. Lily was beauitful and I've always pictured her as elegant.

Yes, I think that she would have. She's a strong and independent person, and if Dumbledore was pushing saying 'Voldemort' she probably would have said it.

Although, remember, Voldemort's name was once taboo. Saying it aloud would allow the Death Eaters to know where you were the moment you said it. That's why people were afraid to say it. They had gotten into the habit of believing anyone who did say it was inviting Death Eaters to swarm.

Although, remember, Voldemort's name was once taboo. Saying it aloud would allow the Death Eaters to know where you were the moment you said it. That's why people were afraid to say it. They had gotten into the habit of believing anyone who did say it was inviting Death Eaters to swarm.

That was in DH, after the Death Eaters had taken over the Ministry. I don't think they had the power to do that when they were still basically a terrorist group, in the 70s.

Though that might be the origin of the "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" tradition: perhaps Voldemort did cast a spell that allowed him to "hear" when some individuals spoke his name, and then he sent his followers to kill that person. Essentially, he picked some victims at random, but connected the murders to the speaking of his name, thus striking fear into everyone's hearts.

But Dumbledore would still have insisted on using his name, and Lily and James wouldn't have let Voldermort terrorize them like that.